Cleansing composition in dry granular form



United States Patent Ofiiice 3,02%,237 Patented Feb. 6, 1962 1 2 3 020 sorbed by the crystal structure of the sodium tetraborate I so that the product exhibits a dry appearance. S SS IN DRY Another object of the invention relates to a cleanser Lyman D -.593.Addi st .ghg lu. I or detergent, preferably -111 a powdered or granular state No Drawing F l O 25, 1957, 5 N 692,261 5 which is capable of forming suds even though borax 1s 8 Claims. (Cl. 252 109) a primary ingredient.

' The invention is primarily directed to a dry product Thi invention relates principally to a drystablehomoas a powdered or pulverized cleanser or detergent comgeneolls Cleansing and detergent (imposition P posed of borax, a sodium soap and a potassium soap of dered or granulated aspect as in a most advantageous 10 ashort chain fatty acid. and commercial sftate to render the "same adaptable for Sodium soaps such as are useful in this invention are use in conventional dispensing appliances and "devices commonly used the World over, These sodium soaps are as commonly installed in public 'lavatories and the like, commonly defined as the sodium salt of the strong base as for hand washing service. Some types of dispensing sodium hydroxide and a long chain fatty acid. For exappara tus are r'egulatable'to dispense different quantities. ample, sodium hydroxide. is commonly reacted with such The type of dispensing apparatus, however, is optional. natural fatty acids as beef tallow, corn oil, soya oil, and This application is a continuation-impart of my 00 peanut oil. These oils are commonly referred to in the pending application, filed on August 19, 195 5, as Serial industry as long chain fatty acids because the molecule Number 529,589, and now abandoned, which Iapplicacontains a larger number of carbon atoms than are tion was a continuation-in-part and was "cope'nding with commonly present in most other natural oils. my application filed on December 3, 1953, as Serial The potassium soaps of short chain fatty acids such Number 396,065, now abandoned. as are useful in this invention are also salts of a strong The present invention is rinci ally directed to a base such as potassium hydroxide and a fatty acid. cleanser or detergent in a powdered or granulated state However, in this case the fatty acid is of the short chain in which borax is a primary ingredient combined with variety. For example, such naturally existing oils as soap. cocoanut oil, palm kernel oil and babassu oil may be Borax is te'm'ied as sodium tetraborate decahydrate. used. For the purposes of this invention it is preferable It is given a chemical formula 'Na B O '("10H O). Decthat the potassium cocoanut oil soap be used. It is also ahydrate is described as a substance containing ten possible to use substantially pure refined fatty acids molecules of water. Borax is usually a dry crystalline 'such 'as lauric and myristic acids in making the potasproduct, and is included in a cleanser composition for 'sium soaps of this invention. the scrubbing action which it provides. Basically a Since the above described soaps are made by reacting powdered soap of the type here involved is employed bases with naturally existing fats, it is of course difiicult principally in washrooms and the like as a hand soap, to exactly determine the chemical composition of the and thus must include in its composition a cleansing oils. However, the following table sets forth an average agent, such as soap, and also a scrubbing agent. 'Borax percentage composition of these oils. In each case, of is often used for this purpose, as it is slowly but comcourse, there will be other varying components which are 'pletely soluble in water, and because it has a slight sofclassified as others.

Cocoanut Palm Babassu Beef Corn Soya Peanut Fatty Acids on, Kernel Tallow, on, on, on,

percent Oil, percent percent percent percent percent;

percent stench; 7* t Laurie, G12."- 48 50 Myristic, 0H" 17 15 9 7 2 2 0 15 2 1 1 1 toning effect on the Water. Therefore, it has been common practice to use a mixture of borax and a sodium soap to form a powdered hand soap composition. The difficulty with such a mixture, however, is that it will not readily form suds, and the mixture when Wetted has a slimy appearance and feel. I have discovered that the addition of a minor proportion of a potassium soap of a short chain fatty acid to a borax and sodium soap cleanser will produce a compound which will form suds instantly when wetted, and thus provides a cleansing compound far more pleasant and attractive to use.

An object of the invention is to produce a pulverized or powdered cleansing product or detergent consisting of soap, combined with a percentage or proportion of borax to produce a crystalline, dry'cleansing or detergent composition.

Another object of the invention is to combine apotasslum soft soap with sodium tetraborate in relative proportions which, when mixed with sodiumsoap, will produce a homogeneous dry cleansing or detergent compound. The liquid present in the potassium soap is ab- Soap R, Soap F,

percent percent Anhydrous soap c0ntent 94. 0 92.0 Moisture 4. 0 3. 8 Sodium carbonate 4 4 Sodium silicate .3 2. 4 Sodium chloride. .6 .6 Glycerine 7 S 'lotal 100.0 100.0

An analysis of the anhydrous soap content given in the 7 above soaps gave the following percentages:

Soap R, Soap F,

percent percent Fatty anhydride 83. 87 82. 49 Combined alkali as NazO 10.13 9. 51

In soap R the fatty anhydride used was beef tallow. In soap F the fatty anhydride used was soya oil. Of course, the fatty anhydride could be any one of the other long chain fatty acids, examples of which have already been given.

0f the potassium short chain fatty acid soap, it is preferable that it contain about 60% soap and about 40% liquid. Such a type of soap is commonly referred to as a soft soap. An important factor of this invention is that when the borax-potassium soap mixture is mixed with the sodium soaps, the sodium soaps will suds in spite of the high percentage of borax, and therefore it may be said that it is the small percent of potassium soap combined with the borax that appears in some manner to prevent or overcome or'suppress the salting-out action of the borax and enables accomplishing a satisfactory result. The water or fluid portion of the soft potassium soap is absorbed into the crystal structure of the borax, thus resulting in a comparatively dry effect. Thus, the potassium soap may be characterized as a soft soap of the character to be absorbed into the crystal structure of the borax.

The proportions of the various components to be used in this invention are as follows, based on the anhydrous weight of the components:

Borax-From about 71 to 87 parts by weight, with about 74 to 81 parts being preferred, and with about 80 parts being most preferred.

Sodium soapFrom about 12 to 25 parts by weight, with about 15 to 20 parts being preferred, and with about 16.5 parts being most preferred.

Potassium soap-From about 1 to 6 parts by weight, with about 3 to 6 parts being preferred, and with about 4 parts being most preferred.

The clarification of the method and product of this invention will result from the following examples:

Example I To an intensive type mixer (a mixer having a mortar and pestle type action) was added 80 pounds of powdered borax, and 6.6 pounds of potassium cocoanut oil soap containing 60% solids and 40% liquid. These two in gredients were then thoroughly mixed until the water pres ent in the commercial potassium cocoanut oil soap was absorbed by the borax, which was done in about five minutes. To this mixture 16 /2 pounds of powdered sodium 1 soap conforming generally to the analysis given in soap R above was added and the mixing continued until all of the ingredients were thoroughly blended. The entire mixing cycle took about thirteen minutes, at which time the product assumed a dry granular form which was completely flowable.

Example 11 The following amounts of components were added and mixed in the same manner as given in Example I:

Powdered borax-80 pounds Powdered sodium soap conforming generally to the analysis given for soap R above-l5 pounds.

Potassium cocoanut oil soap containing anhydrous solids-5 pounds 4 Example III The following amounts of components were added and mixed in the same manner as given in Example I:

It has been previously indicated that pulverulent hand soaps have previously been made which included only the borax and sodium soap. Such mixtures are not homogeneous, regardless of the amount of mixing which has occurred, and streaks of yellow (sodium soap) can readily be detected against the white background of borax. This tendency for the mixture to striate apparently is inherent in sodium soap-borax mixtures.

In forming the present cleansing compound, however, it was noted that the resulting mixture is completely homogeneous in appearance, even though the major portions thereof are borax and sodium soap. There is no tendency on the part of the mixture to striate, and the final product has a smooth, even texture and appearance, which not only is more pleasing to the eye, but possesses improved flow qualities, and thus is more susceptible to dispensing in the normal soap dispensers found in lavatories.

Having described my invention as related to certain embodiments thereof, it is my intention that the invention be not limited by any of the details of description unless otherwise specified, but rather be construed broadly within its spirit and scope as set out in the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. A dry, pulverulent cleansing composition capable of sudsing, which composition has been produced by mixing together until dry approximately 71 to 87 parts by dry weight of borax and approximately 1 to 6 parts by dry weight ofv a potassium soft soap containing by weight of said soap up to about 40% water, said soft soap being a potassium soap of a short chain fatty acid comprising a mixture containing at least about 70% of fatty acid having from 8 to 14 carbon atoms of which at least about 60% has from 12 to 14 carbon atoms, thereafter adding approximately 12 to 25 parts by dry weight of a sodium soap of a long chain fatty acid comprising a mixture containing at least about of fatty acid having from 16 to 18 carbon atoms, and mixing said borax-potassium soap mixture and said sodium soap together to produce a product in a dry granular form.

2. The cleansing composition of claim 1 wherein said potassium soap of a short chain fatty acid is a member of the class consisting of potassium cocoanut oil soap, potassium palm kernel oil soap, and potassium babassu oil soap.

3. The cleansing composition of claim 1 wherein said potassium soap of a short chain fatty acid is potassium cocoanut oil soap.

4. A dry, pulverulent cleansing composition capable of sudsing, which composition has been produced by mixing together until dry approximately 74 to 81 parts by dry weight of borax and approximately 3 to 6 parts by dry weight of a potassium soft soap containing by weight of said soap up to about 40% water, said soft soap being a potassium soap of a short chain fatty acid comprising a mixture containing at least about 70% of fatty acid having from 8 to 14 carbon atoms of which at least about 60% has from 12 to 14 carbon atoms, thereafter adding approximately 15 to 20 parts by dry weight of a sodium soap of along chain fatty acid comprising a mixture of at least about 90% of fatty acid having from 16 to 18 carbon atoms, and mixing said borax-potassium soap mixsoap mixture and said sodium soap together to produce in a dry granular form.

5. A dry, pulverulent cleansing composition capable 0f sudsing, which composition has been produced by mixing together until dry approximately 80 parts by dry weight of borax and approximately 4 parts by dry Weight of a potassium soft soap containing by Weight of said soap about 60% solids and about 40% water, said soft soap being a potassium soap of a short chain fatty acid comprising a mixture containing at least about 70% of fatty acid having from 8 to 14 carbon atoms of which at least about 60% has from 12 to 14 carbon atoms, thereafter adding approximately 16.5 parts by dry weight of a sodium soap of a long chain fatty acid comprising a mixture containing at least about 90% of fatty acid having from 16 to 18 carbon atoms, and mixing said borax-potassium soap mixture and said sodium soap together to produce a product in a dry granular form.

6. A method for providing a dry, pulverulent cleansing composition capable of sudsing, comprising the steps of:

-mixing together until dry approximately 71 to 87 parts by dry Weight of borax and approximately 1 to 6 parts by dry Weight of a potassium soft soap containing by Weight of said soap up to about 40% water, said soft soap being a potassium soap of a short chain fatty acid comprising a mixture containing at least about 70% of fatty acid having from 8 to 14 carbon atoms of which at leastabout 60% has from 12 to 14 carbon atoms, thereafter adding approximately 12 to 25 parts by dry weight of a sodium soap of a long chain fatty acid comprising a mixture containing at least about 90% of fatty acid having from 16 to 18 carbon atoms, and mixing said borax-potassium soap mixture and said sodium soap together to produce a product in a dry granular form.

7. A method for providing a dry, pulverulent cleansing composition capable of sudsing, comprising the steps of: mixing together until dry approximately 74 to 81 parts by dry weight of borax and approximately 3 to 6 parts by dry weight of a potassium soft soap containing by weight of said soap up to about 40% Water, said soft soap being a potassium soap of a short chain fatty acid comprising a mixture containing at least about 70% of fatty acid having from 8 to 14 carbon atoms of which at 4 least about 60% has from 12 to 14 carbon atoms, there- 6 after adding approximately 15 to 20 parts by dry weight of a sodium soap of a long chain fatty acid comprising a mixture containing at least about 90% of fatty acid having from 16 to 18 carbon atoms, and mixing said boraxpotassium, soap mixture and said sodium soap together to produce a product in a dry granular form.

8. A method for providing a dry, pulverulent cleansing composition capable of sudsing, comprising the steps of: mixing together until dry approximately 80 parts by dry weight of borax and approximately 4 parts by dry weight of a potassium soft soap containing by weight of said soap about solids and about 40% Water, said soft soap being a potassium soap of a short chain fatty acid cornprising a mixture containing at least about of fatty acid having from 8 to 14 carbon atoms of which at least about 60% has from 12 to 14 carbon atoms, thereafter adding approximately 16.5 parts by dry Weight of a sodium soap of a long chain fatty acid comprising a mixture containing at least about of fatty acid having from 16 to 18 carbon atoms, and mixing said borax-potassium soap mixture and said sodium soap together to produce a product in a dry granular form.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS I OTHER REFERENCES Washing, Cleaning and Polishing Materials, Bureau of Standards Circular C 424 (1939), page 21.

Bennett: The Chemical Formulary, vol. 7, 1945, Chem. Pub. (30., page 3.69. 

1. A DRY, PULVERULENT CLEANSING COMPOSITION CAPABLE OF SUDSING,WHICH COMPOSITION HAS BEEN PRODUCED BY MIXING TOGETHER UNTIL DRY APPROXIMATELY 71 TO 87 PARTS BY DRY WEIGHT OF BORAX AND APPROXIMATELY 1 TO 6 PARTS BY DRY WEIGHT OF A POTASSIUM SOFT SOAP CONTAINING BY WEIGHT OF SAID SOAP UP TO ABOUT 40% WATER, SAID SOFT SOAP BEING A POTASSIUM SOAP OF A SHORT CHAIN FATTY ACID COMPRISING A MIXTURE CONTAINING AT LEAST ABOUT 70% OF FATTY ACID HAVING FROM 8 TO 14 CARBON ATOMS, OF WHICH AT LEAST ABOUT 60% HAS FROM 12 TO 14 CARBON ATOMS, THEREAFTER ADDING APPROXIMATELY 12 TO 25 PARTS BY DRY WEIGHT OF A SODIUM SOAP OF A LONG CHAIN FATTY ACID COMPRISING A MIXTURE CONTAINING AT LEAST ABOUT 90% OF FATTY ACID HAVING FROM 16 TO 18 CARBON ATOMS, AND MIXING SAID BORAX-POTASSIUM SOAP MIXTURE AND SAID SODIUM SOAP TOGETHER TO PRODUCE A PRODUCT IN A DRY GRANULAR FORM. 